Chandigarh Metro: High level meeting on Jan 14

Chandigarh: The Central Government has given a final nod for running metro in the city. After this decision, the government officials from Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana have decided to attend a meeting at UT Guest House on January 14.

From the last few months, the State Government, Central Government and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have been exchanging letters in this regard.

Till date, the Punjab and Haryana Government has not given a green signal for the Metro project.

For this project, the Punjab and Haryana Government has agreed to pay Rs 400 crores each. The entire project will cost around Rs 6800 crore project. The proposed Chandigarh metro rail will cover a distance of 52.4km, out of which 40.4km will lie in Chandigarh itself. The whole stretch will have a total of 50 stations.

The draft plan for the metro project has been prepared by RITES government agency.RITES in its report have proposed seven corridors for Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. The project will be completed in three phase. The Metro underground route is going to cost Rs 320 crore per kilometer while the surface route will cost Rs 140 crore per kilometer. The entire project will cost around Rs 15,000 crore.

Metro train route is likely to be extended to Jirakpur, Kharad, Naya Gaon, Pinjore. The project for metro rail in Chandigarh was proposed four years back by the name of Tri-city’.

A special group has also been formed to generate funds for this project.

The step is seen as a major plan of the government to revamp the ailing public transportation system of the Tri-city.